Professor Suzanne Cory is to become the fifth director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research on the retirement of Professor Gustav Nossal. Professor Cory was born and grew up in Melbourne, attending University High School and graduating in Science from the University of Melbourne. She completed her PhD at Cambridge. She is currently Research Professor of Molecular Oncology at that University and joint head of the Molecular Biology unit at the Institute. (University of Melbourne: University Fund Newsletter).
In a recent report in the Sydney Morning Herald (29 May 1996) Professor Cory said that in order to make a mark in science, which is becoming highly competitive, 'you have to be totally single-minded and you have to spend your whole life focused on it and nothing else. Sometimes I feel it's like being a monk in a monastery.' On the other hand, 'It's a very great privilege to be in a profession where everything is changing. It's a tough world, but it's also an exciting world. I wouldn't want to do anything else.'
Martina Rienzner, trained as a cabinet-maker and joiner in Munich, was recently the subject of an article in Business Review Weekly (15 April 1996). Her all-woman business, in the inner west of Sydney, was named as sole trader of the year in the 1995 Small Business Awards. She commented on the workshop atmosphere: 'The younger work-experience girls really appreciate getting attention and being shown what to do properly; at tech it still happens that the 20 boys get the teacher's attention and the one girl doesn't.'
She added that hardware store sales staff still do not believe that women know what they are talking about and painted an all-too-familiar scene: 'When I was being trained, I always felt that I had to prove myself twice as much as anyone else so I lifted the heaviest things, worked the longest hours and did some pretty stupid things. I really enjoy being able to offer a work environment where people don't have to do that.'
The Council, chaired by Minister for Women Faye Lo Po, includes women with a wide range of interests and experience- Carolyn Bloch (Director General of the Department), Beverlee Adams (grazier, local government, environment), Caroline Alcorso (employment, migrant health, multicultural education), Merilyn Alt (management and planning, equal opportunity), Dr Moira Carmody (health, policy development re sexual assault and intellectual disability), Liza Carver (trade practices, consumer issues), Cristina Cifuentes (banking, investment, superannuation), Libby Darlison (exercise and health, women in sport), Jennifer Hunt (arts management), Ailsa MacKinnon (education and training), Naomi Mayers (Aboriginal health and women's issues), Pat Mowbray (community health), Kaye Schofield (vocational education and training, employment).
Objectives of the Council are to: reduce violence against women; promote workplaces that are equitable, safe and responsive to all aspects of women's lives; maximise the interests of women in micro-economic reform; promote the position of women in all aspects of society; promote access to and successful participation by women in all parts of the education and training system; and improve the health and quality of life of women in NSW.
The first Newsletter of the Department for Women has brief notes
on violence against women, women and the legal profession,
a new court assistance program, and a research project on older
women in and out of the work force. It also has details about
a Fax-to-Fax service providing information about a range of issues
and services of interest to women. This can be reached by dialling
190 226 1144 on your Fax machine.
Contact: Department for Women, Level 11, 100 William Street, Woolloomooloo, NSW 2011. Ph: (02) 334 1160. Fax: (02) 334 1023. Email: statwom@slim.slnsw.gov.au
A new booklet by Sally Moxham and Pam Roberts, Gender in the Engineering Curriculum, refers to the need of the profession to be more representative of our society, and to the benefits of creativity, teamwork and communication skills which the industry needs and which women can bring to it. Contact: Pam Roberts, Swinburne University of Technology. Phone: (03) 9214 8510. (Source: The Gen, March 1996)
The Tradeswomen on the Move project in Victoria has involved about 1,500 students in Melbourne in careers nights, expos, and 'trade taster days' where girls learnt about a number of non-traditional careers in hands-on activities in fitting and turning, boilermaking and the automotive industry. Teaching resource kits, brochures, stickers and other information are available from Kate Paine, TWOM Coordinator. Phone: (03) 9417 5355. Fax: (03) 9417 5941. (Source: The Gen, March 1996)
The National Women's Justice Coalition joins the growing number
of organisations on the Internet. The home page includes a bill-tracking
facility whereby you can dial and get copies of the Family Law
Reform Bill, Hansards, and Senate Committee Papers. Future plans
are for links with women's legal resources, women lawyer groups
etc.
The March Newsletter gives the address in cyberspace as http://www.ozemail.com.au/~nwjc/
More pedestrian access is via GPO Box 3148, Canberra City, ACT 2601. Phone: (06) 247 2075. Fax: (06) 257 3070.
The Women's Library Inc aims to house a comprehensive range of
feminist and lesbian literature, required reading for courses
that focus on women's issues, the works of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander women, a collection relevant to women of non-English
speaking background and to provide a space for borrowing, reading
and relaxing. A further aim is to act as a local women's resource
centre and to provide a well stocked children's reading room.
Details of membership and ways of supporting the Library are available
from 72 Garden St, Alexandria, Tuesday to Sunday after 11am or
PO Box 271, Newtown NSW 2042. Phone:
(02) 319 0529
The debate about whether women and girls are being left behind in the computer age has been fuelled with some significant survey material suggesting that males of all ages are monopolising computer screens. The survey, commissioned by Apple Computer, found that up to the age of 8, boys get an average of 8% of the use, compared with 1% for girls. Between 9 and 12, the boys' share rises to 28% compared with 19% for girls. At teenage level, the boys get 56% and the girls 30%, with adult males getting 55% compared to 31% for women.
Clinical psychologist Dr John Irvine is quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald as saying the survey results indicate manufacturers need to produce software more attractive to females, rather than the flood of action games which appeal mainly to males. The survey was based on a national Newspoll of 1,200 adults, and additional in-depth interviews with adults and children aged 6 to 18. (Source: WEL-Informed, Issue 264, February 1996)
Along the same lines is a fascinating story in The Gen (January/February 1996) which quotes Dr Nola Alloway, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at James Cook University. She has found that 'even at kindergarten age, boys can adopt extremely proprietory attitudes towards computers and employ highly aggressive tactics to ensure that they maintain control over these important resources.' (The Gen is published by DEET.)
Permanent and long term temporary professional and scientific vacancies with the Australian Antarctic Division are now advertised on the Division's Home Page. This can be accessed on the Web address: http://www.antdiv.gov.au/
The Antarctic Division is an equal opportunity employer and is actively seeking women to apply for any vacancy for which they are qualified.
The first female president of the 16,000 strong Sydney Division of the Institution of Engineers Australia is Ms Elizabeth Taylor. She is a senior lecturer in electrical engineering at the University of Technology, Sydney. About 95% of the members are male but, while representing the interests of all members, Ms Taylor hopes to improve conditions for women working in the profession.
A major exhibition on the topic: 'The Clever Country-Scientists in Australia', opened at the National Portrait Gallery, in Old Parliament House in Canberra in June. It extensively covers the men, women and events of significance to Australian science over the past 208 years. It has been arranged by the science historian, Ann Moyal, and will run from June 22 until November 3.
Professional women who are interested in the topic 'women in the
21st century' are invited to join a group to meet regularly at
Women's College, Sydney University, for refreshments and chat.
Come along on August 1,
6-7:30 pm. For more information contact Karen Alpe, (02) 5571195.